


A Valentine's Day Surprise

by FantasticalScribe



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Flustered Noctis, M/M, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, because I love my angst, brotherhood era, fluff with a bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-18 22:30:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13691172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantasticalScribe/pseuds/FantasticalScribe
Summary: Noctis was never a big fan of Valentine's Day, so he isn't too thrilled when, in his final year of high school, he has to hand out Valentine's cards to the class. The only plus side is the fact that it gives him an excuse to make one for Ignis.





	A Valentine's Day Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's Day! I'm total trash for this ship right now, so instead of being a good student and paying attention in class today, I thought I would whip up something for Noctis and Ignis! Hope you guys enjoy!

It was Valentine’s Day, and even though Noctis and his classmates were in their final year of high school, their homeroom teacher decided it would be a great idea to have the class exchange Valentine’s cards. This was something Noctis hadn’t done since he was a kid, and it wasn’t something he cared to do, if he was being honest. He didn’t want to write out cards to his classmates; it wasn’t that he didn’t like them, he just didn’t care enough about them to spend effort on writing them cards. He’d complained about this to Ignis, but instead of agreeing with him about the idea, Ignis had encouraged him to participate in the festivities. Ignis had even gone so far as to buy Noctis Valentine’s cards and suckers for the class, much to Noctis’ dismay.

“Can’t you just pull me out of class for royal business or something?” Noctis whined, staring down at the Valentine’s card in his hand.

Ignis had gone out to buy him a pack of generic cards with large red hearts on the front and pink, curly writing wishing a happy Valentine’s day. Just looking at how cheesy the cards were made Noctis groan at the thought of handing them out. They were _so not him_. But Ignis had bought them, excitedly showing them to Noctis, and after seeing his green eyes lit up, he held back his thoughts on the cards.

“Noct, it’ll be good for you to interact with your classmates,” Ignis insisted, grabbing a bag of heart-shaped suckers and taping them to the cards.

He sat across from Noctis at the kitchen table of the prince’s apartment. Noctis had insisted that he didn’t have to help with the cards – buying him the cards and candy had been more than enough – but Ignis had insisted that this was the only way Noctis would actually fill them out. It was the same with paperwork – the only times Noctis felt motivated enough to tackle it was when Ignis sat around forcing him.

 “I interact with my classmates enough. Besides, it isn’t like we’re kids. We shouldn’t be forced to do something so stupid.”

“I think it’s a fine idea.”

Noctis shot him a pointed look. “You’re not the one who has to actually be part of the exchange.”

“I think it would be quite fun to participate in.”

Noctis paused for a second, looking up at Ignis as he wrote out another card. “Ignis…you’ve gotten a Valentine’s gram before, right?”

Ignis shook his head. “When one works for the royal family, such experiences are rare. I haven’t had the occasion to receive one.”

“Want to trade positions?” Noctis mumbled, though he couldn’t help but feel guilty.

Ignis was never able to go out and experience the world because he was always stuck with Noctis. Ignis was always doing something for him – driving him to and from school, cleaning the house, cooking meals for him, helping with paperwork and homework, etc. – and Noctis wondered if Ignis ever did anything for himself other than sleep. Ignis did so much for him, and yet he received nothing.

Noctis, on the other hand, hardly did anything. He did his princely duties once he was nagged at enough times, and he went to school. He hardly talked to any of his classmates aside from Prompto, and yet Noctis always received attention from his peers and teachers, especially around the holidays. Noctis knew that tomorrow, like every year, he would be showered with Valentine’s cards, chocolates – you name it. If it was related to Valentine’s Day, he received it, all because he was the prince.

He didn’t deserve any of it.

“You aren’t skipping,” Ignis declared, breaking Noctis from his thoughts. “Now, let’s finish these, shall we?”

Noctis groaned, knowing he had no way out of it. So, he sat with Ignis until they were all finished, and once Ignis left, he went to work on his final Valentine’s card, the only one that truly mattered to him.

 

* * *

 

 

After school, Ignis was already waiting by the school gates to pick up Noctis as usual. Ignis was always here to escort Noctis, always early and always awaiting him with a small smile that made Noctis feel relaxed, regardless of how his day had been. Ignis dressed in his usual garb – a dark purple dress shirt, black suit jacket, and black dress pants paired with black dress shoes – but Noctis could hardly see it over the pile of items he held in his arm.

“Ah, Noct, how was class?” Ignis greeted, stepping forward and holding his arms out to Noctis.

 “It was fine,” Noctis answered, dumping some of his Valentine’s gifts into Ignis’ arms.

As expected, Noctis’ classmates – and even students in other classes – gave Noctis a slew of gifts from cards, to candy and cookies, to stuffed animals, to flowers, to mugs, and more. His deserve any of it, hadn’t asked for any of it, and yet his peers had been more than willing to give him all of this for nothing.

“I see you were quite the attraction today,” Ignis remarked, leading Noctis to the car and tossing all the gifts in the backseat. He then opened the car door for Noctis. “I imagine it wasn’t terrible to speak with your classmates for the day.”

Noctis inclined his head in thanks as he slid into the car seat, buckling before responding. “It isn’t because they like me, you know,” Noctis said softly, resting his head against the window, cheek in his hand as he peered outside.

Ignis turned on the car, the engine rumbling as he cast an inquisitive gaze at the prince. “What do you mean? Of course they like you, Noct.”

Noctis sighed, wishing he hadn’t brought it up. “They like me because they have to. They only gave me all that they did because I’m royalty and they want to be in my good graces, not because they like me as a person. That’s the way it always is.”

Everyone around him only treated him kindly because of his status, because of his dad. Only Prompto, Ignis, and Gladio were the only ones apart from his dad that he felt ever treated him like a person, not just a prince. Normally, it wouldn’t bother him because people would talk about him from afar, but today dozens of people had spoken to him, praised him, acting like his friend – but he knew it wasn’t genuine.

Ignis pulled out of his parking spot and began to drive Noctis home. “Is that why you didn’t want to go today?”

Noctis merely offered a shrug, eyes glued to the moving scenery outside.

Ignis sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you to participate today as I had.”

Noctis shook his head, turning to look at him. Ignis was the last one who needed to apologize. Ignis did everything for him – cooking, cleaning, sewing – and Noctis could never make it up to him no matter what he did.

“Specs, you don’t have to apologize.” He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I shouldn’t have brought it up, I’m sorry.”

It wasn’t the time for him to drag Ignis into the mess of feelings of his life. Ignis already did enough for him, and on a day like today, Ignis deserved some happiness. He didn’t need to clean up another one of Noctis’ mess.

“It’s quite all right,” Ignis replied. “Well, I bet none of those kids gave you any Valentine’s vegetables, did they?”

Noctis’ face twisted in disgust, his tongue sticking out. “Doubtful, but if they did, I’d give them to you.”

“You really need to learn to eat your vegetables you know.”

“It’s Valentine’s Day, I think I should get a pass.”

Ignis only sighed, pulling into his usual parking space for Noctis’ apartment. He escorted Noctis inside, helping to bring in the mountain of gifts. After making sure Noctis had food to eat for the night, Ignis turned to leave, throwing Noctis into a panic.

He had planned for Ignis to stay for a while, maybe even eat dinner with him, so that at the end of the night, Noctis could surprise him. Noctis would have volunteered to cook for Ignis, but it would have been a burnt disaster, he could tell, so he’d settled for a smaller token of appreciation for all the man had done for him. And, admittedly, he didn’t want Ignis to leave. It was Valentine’s Day, and there wasn’t anyone else that he wanted to spend it with.

“Ignis, wait,” Noctis blurted out, his hand reaching out and tugging at Ignis’ sleeve.

Ignis whirled around to face Noctis, face wrinkling in concern. Noctis couldn’t blame him; it wasn’t often that he stopped Ignis from leaving. “What is it?”

Noctis’ mouth felt dry, his heart pounding against his ribcage as nerves settled in his veins. “I, um.”

Damn it, why was it so hard to speak right now? It was a simple act, a small surprise. It wasn’t supposed to be this difficult. All he was going to do was give Ignis a Valentine’s card. It was only a card, and he’d done just fine handing them out to his classmates earlier today.

But Ignis wasn’t his classmates. He was someone more special, and there was something more intimate about handing out this card.

Noctis shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his eyes looking everywhere but at Ignis. He could feel the heat rising to his cheeks, painting them a light pink. His hands grew slick with sweat as he stepped closer to his school bag, where Ignis’ gift was.

“Noct, are you all right?” Ignis asked, his concern growing deeper as his eyebrows knitted together.

Noctis shook his head, finally at his bag. “I-I’m fine. I just, um, well…”

He just needed to spit it out before he made more of an idiot out of himself. This was Ignis for Astrals sake. He could do this. He needed to do this, for Iggy’s sake.

With a deep breath, Noctis continued, rummaging through his bag until his hands wrapped around the gift. “Remember what you, uh, told me last night? About never receiving a Valentine’s card?”

“Yes…what about it?”

“Well, you can’t say that anymore,” Noctis mumbled, presenting Ignis with not only a Valentine’s card, but also a batch of chocolates and candy he’d had Prompto pick up for him that morning.

Ignis stared at the gift in Noctis’ hand, opening and closing his mouth as he tried to formulate words.

Noctis’ first thoughts were, _He hates it. He thinks it’s weird._

Ignis reached out and took the gift, carefully opening up his card and reading it. Noctis knew he would be reading his scribbled handwriting that had smudged as he’d wrote it, his hand too nervous to write steadily. It would read:

            Specs,

            Happy Valentine’s Day. I know I don’t say it enough, but thank you. For everything. ~~You’re special to me.~~ You’re one of the few people who talk to me as Noctis, not just because of your job. ~~At least I hope it isn’t because of your job~~. ~~Honestly, I don’t deserve anything you do for me.~~ Anyway, thanks again.

            Love,  
                    Noctis

Maybe he shouldn’t have wrote him the card. Noctis knew he was never good with words, and he’d sounded so foolish. He’d crossed out bits, but maybe he should have crossed out everything and scrapped the card. Ignis probably thought he was weird, probably wanted to take the card and burn it. What if he realized Noctis had this goofy crush on him and asked Regis to assign him elsewhere?

He had to make this right, make this a little less weird and awkward. He couldn’t lose Ignis over some stupid mistake he’d made. All he’d wanted to do was to bring a smile to his face, and now he’d probably destroyed everything.

“I-I had extra, so I thought you might want one or something,” Noctis sputtered out. “I-it was a stupid thought, I shouldn’t ha-“

“Noct,” Ignis finally said, silencing Noctis and drawing his attention.

Ignis wore a soft smile on his face, nothing like the wide-eyed face of horror that Noctis had expected. Ignis’s eyes dropped to the card, running his fingers along it as his soft smile only grew.

“Thank you,” Ignis finally said, looking back toward Noctis. “I…no one has ever given me something like this.”

Noctis shifted his gaze downward, his cheeks heating once more. He kicked at invisible dirt with his foot. “You deserve more thank yous than that pathetic mess I call a card,” Noctis mumbled.

“It’s the best card I’ve received. For the record, Noct, I don’t treat you like I do because it’s my job. You’re more than just the Prince of Lucis to me, and don’t you ever think you don’t deserve this. You deserve the world.”

Noctis’ head snapped up, welling with joy at the words. His heart lurched in his chest, and he couldn’t help but smile. Ignis liked the card. He didn’t think he was creepy or weird. He didn’t want to be reassigned elsewhere. He stayed because he wanted to, and that was all Noctis needed to hear.

Without thinking, Noctis stumbled forward and wrapped his arms tightly around Ignis, burying his face in his chest, too overcome by emotion to realize what he was doing. He felt Ignis stiffen at the sudden embrace, and then Noct realized what he’d done. His eyes widened, and he shook his head as he pulled away from Ignis.

“Specs, I-I’m so sorry,” he said. “I-I don’t know what I was thinking.”

He moved to release his hold but stopped when Ignis’s arms tightened around him, pulling him close again. Ignis rested his chin on Noctis’ head, one hand gently trailing up and down along his back. It surprised Noctis, but he instantly melted into the hug, closing his eyes as he reveled in Ignis’ warmth, in the way he smelled like a mix of candy and cologne.

“You needn’t apologize to me so much, Noct,” Ignis said, his voice soft.

“I just…I don’t want to lose you,” Noctis admitted, mumbling.

“You’ll never lose me. I promise you that.”

Noctis smiled at the words, hugging Ignis tighter. “I don’t know what you’re doing tonight, but if you don’t have plans, did you maybe want to stay a little longer and hang out?”

“I would love to.”


End file.
